the simple things

I have a cousin who lives in Florida, a cousin who when surveying the landscape of potential men to marry, ended up marrying very well. She found herself a multi-million dollar husband to start a family with and they are currently living a very posh, very rich and famousy type of lifestyle…with more emphasis on the 'rich' than on the 'famous'.

They have a seven year old daughter and, like rich folks with kids, annual birthday parties become very competitive. The parents of each student in her exclusive private school tries desperately to out do one another in the quest for the most fabulous birthday party of the season. And if ever a seven year olds’ birthday party could make it onto the pages of the 'society' section in the local newspaper, these kids would be the ones to accomplish this journalistic feat.

We're talking full-blown spectacles, complete with pony rides, clowns of all shapes and sizes, enough balloons to kill half the birds en route back north for the summer, inflatable castles, rented carousels, and corporate sponsors. The birthday parties of these rich seven year olds would make truly compelling reality television, causing Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie to look like mere middle class schlubs in comparison.

Naturally, the stakes are continually raised as the school year progresses, with each party becoming more lavish than the last. Thus, those poor, unfortunate souls whose birthday falls in September or October must hang their heads in birthday party shame by the end of the year. My cousin’s daughter had her birthday a few weeks ago, thus giving them ample time to plan an extravagant event.

My cousin asked her what theme she wanted for this, her eighth year, on the planet. After some thought, her daughter told her, "you know, I really don't want a big party with all my friends this year. I just want to go out for dinner with my family."

My cousin was overjoyed. She prided herself on raising a child with a true sense of family. A daughter which didn’t need lavish parties or expensive frills to make her birthday wishes come true. A daughter for whom a simple birthday dinner with her family was all that her little heart desired.

"Yep," her daughter said, "we’ll rent one of those limousines with a swimming pool in it and all go out for dinner!"

Ah yes, there's nothing like the simple little things in life, spent around family and loved ones, that makes birthdays so special.